Partscaster Pros....

japetus

Moderator
I have decided on a project for this year. I am going to put together my first partscaster. Now, this will not be something I just rush out and buy everything and put it together. Partly due to financial restraints and partly because I want to do this right. Here is my plan. I want a VERY traditional, non hotrodded strat. I really DO NOT care about paint/looks...I honestly am considering just a raw, unpainted body with a light stain. It is 100% about tone and playability. I want to make this as close to an old school, traditional sounding strat as I can.

-Alder Body
-Rosewood board
-SSS pups

I am just brainstorming here, but with all the experience here, what do you think would be the best way to go about this? Warmoth..allparts...buy a fender body....so many choices.
 
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I have built fifteen parts casters over the years. My main takeaway... You can have the best parts on paper, but you simply do not know what you are going to get until it is all together. I have built ones that were absolute players that sounded great. I have built some that looked great but sounded like dogs.
 
I have built fifteen parts casters over the years. My main takeaway... You can have the best parts on paper, but you simply do not know what you are going to get until it is all together. I have built ones that were absolute players that sounded great. I have built some that looked great but sounded like dogs.
I kind of feel like this is what I am going to have to do, really take my time and look at each part. Also, I really TRULY do not care about looks at all. If I found a pink and green polka dot guitar with purple hardware and it screamed, I wouldn't care.
 
I've built a few, my Warmoth and MJT builds were easy and are bangers but are very traditional in design and components. The one where I went outside of the box (hotrodded 2 hum tele, 24 fret roasted neck) is a pretty big let down. i think the root of the issue is the bridge, but it's a trial-and-error process to resolve. When you go with a more standard formula, it's pretty straightforward if you go with good components.
 
Musikraft is a crap shoot whether you'll get a dream or a nightmare, but the one neck I have from them is brilliant. Too bad it didn't fit the body they made with it.

MJT finishing work is awful IME. But maybe the finish isn't a concern for you.

That's really all the experience I can offer, other than having a pro do the assembly or at least a final fret level would be well worth the money IMHO.
 
I've been through several Warmoth builds. Everyone here is right. Sometimes it's great, sometimes it's shit. And it's tough to predict.

I think Warmoth is getting way overpriced especially in the bodies. If you don't care about the beauty of the wood and finish, I'd do something much cheaper.

I slapped a Warmoth neck on an old Fender Hot-Rod strat body with a seriously cheap pre wired SSS pickguard and it ain't bad. If I were doing it from 'scratch' today...I'd buy a Squire strat with a finish I could stand, and then try a nice neck from Musikraft, and a nice bridge pickup. I would stay away from the modern truss systems as I feel they really fuck with the tone and resonance especially if I wanted a bouncy strat feel.
 
I have built fifteen parts casters over the years. My main takeaway... You can have the best parts on paper, but you simply do not know what you are going to get until it is all together. I have built ones that were absolute players that sounded great. I have built some that looked great but sounded like dogs.
^This right here. I would also say to only build a guitar if you really want to BUILD the guitar...not just HAVE the guitar. You could put a lot of time and money in and end up with something that any garden variety Squire would bury. Or you might get lucky and make something really awesome. Or you could spend that time running the racks and find something that way. But imo don't build the guitar because you expect it to be all that...you'd be better off buying. But if you're an incessant tinkerer (like me), Strat builds are fun and fairly straightforward.

There has been a big increase in partscasters since Covid, illustrated by the long wait times. Wouldn't be surprised if there's a bunch of parts and partsasters available soon.
 
I've only built one (my take on a Style 2 San Dimas) but I used Warmoth for the body and neck and have no complaints.....fuckin thing fucks
Man, lately I've been toying around with wanting to do a San Dimas style Warmoth build, but dude the cost adds up quick!
 
I want a VERY traditional, non hotrodded strat. I really DO NOT care about paint/looks...I honestly am considering just a raw, unpainted body with a light stain. It is 100% about tone and playability. I want to make this as close to an old school, traditional sounding strat as I can.
I've put together several Partscasters over the years including what turned out to be my first really nice guitar some 35+ years ago when I went to the original Warmoth "shop" which was the back bedroom of their house in Puyallup and picked out a neck and body...been bitten ever since. Agree with the 'you never know what you're gonna get' statements 100%. My best Tele I own is legit right up there with tone and playability of any custom shop rig and is a $100 pine Tele body from Rutters and a $125 bargain Tele neck off the old USACG web specials site...these two pieces just work together, can't explain why. I've built some tone turds too but this aint one of them. I'm knee deep into 2 Mutts right now that I'll post some photos of later that are encouraging....

In the meantime I'll throw out this - the costs and wait times for paint guys forced my hand to figure it out myself. This time of the year in the PNW doesn't work for sprayed paint and I discovered stains and dyes... One company in particular is just nuts with what you can get and they have an insanely awesome name - Unicorn Spit !!!

https://unicornspit.com/
This guy has a entire series on staining / dyeing guitars with non sprayed finishes...everything you need to know and learn is right here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/thebigdguitars/videos
This dude is nuts as well...
https://www.youtube.com/user/customizedguitars/videos
You can spend a shit ton of money doing this....look on TGP for used hardware and pickups...I strongly recommend shopping the bargain bins at Best Guitar Parts, Warmoth or Guitar Mill for necks and bodies if buying new. I just got a San Dimas style Strat body from KnE that is nice... I was pricing out a body I wanted for a new Mutt idea from Warmoth and it was gonna be over $425 after shipping....feeling defeated a couple days later I happened to look at Best Guitar Parts and they had the dead nuts EXACT thing I wanted in their bargain section for $160 !!!! Score :rock:
 
I honestly am considering just a raw, unpainted body with a light stain.
Here’s where I’m at with the two bodies I mentioned above...both were done with Unicorn Spit gel stain reduced to dye level. Prob gonna sand back the Strat and start over or spot repair, couple splotchies and a grubby finger print or two....really happy with the black / brown Tele body is turning out.
 

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I've built several Warmoths, but like others have said... their prices are getting too high.. That being said, if you're into buying something that you know is going to go together nicely they are hard to beat. 100% agree on the possiblity of it being a turd though, you just never know. I actually dipped my toe into building my own bodies there for a little bit. While gratifying, it's a lot of work. Something I have done in the past, at least for sourcing necks is to buy cheap Squire Strats in pawnshops. The prices on those have gone up lately, but you can still usually find them for under $100. I take the necks off them and refret them, and then sell the bodies off (or sometimes use them for another partscaster build).
Here’s where I’m at with the two bodies I mentioned above...both were done with Unicorn Spit gel stain reduced to dye level. Prob gonna sand back the Strat and start over or spot repair, couple splotchies and a grubby ginger print or two....really happy with the black / brown Tele body is turning out.

Those look great, but the tele is remarkable! If you don't mind my asking, how are you getting such a defined line on your masked binding? I've done a few dyed bodies, and have wanted to try that. I figured it would nearly impossible to do with regular masking tape, as the name might suggest.
 
Those look great, but the tele is remarkable! If you don't mind my asking, how are you getting such a defined line on your masked binding? I've done a few dyed bodies, and have wanted to try that. I figured it would nearly impossible to do with regular masking tape, as the name might suggest.
Thanks! Re: the fake binding, I used the stickiest blue painters tape I could find, laid out a 5 foot strip on a known square 1x6x8' to the flat edge, then just used a T Square and cut a 1/4' strip with a razor blade. I wrapped that around a pen so I could "dispense" it and pull it tight as I went around the body. I did the top black first so already had my top (mostly) straight line to go off. After it was on the body I spent 5 minutes or so going over it with my thumb to make sure it was stuck on there well. When I dyed the back I made sure to not load up the tape edge too much. I had zero bleed from the top or back doing it like this. So thinking about it - The Unicorn Spit is a gel stain that you can reduce to use as a dye.. I reduce it with alcohol so it evaporates quick. I don't think that it penetrates as deep as say a leather dye or TransTint style stuff mixed with water, so I think that along with using alcohol to reduce / thin really helps to get no bleed. I just went for it knowing I could sand it back if needed but it worked perfect. For sure I'll do that again in the future.
 
I have decided on a project for this year. I am going to put together my first partscaster. Now, this will not be something I just rush out and buy everything and put it together. Partly due to financial restraints and partly because I want to do this right. Here is my plan. I want a VERY traditional, non hotrodded strat. I really DO NOT care about paint/looks...I honestly am considering just a raw, unpainted body with a light stain. It is 100% about tone and playability. I want to make this as close to an old school, traditional sounding strat as I can.

-Alder Body
-Rosewood board
-SSS pups

I am just brainstorming here, but with all the experience here, what do you think would be the best way to go about this? Warmoth..allparts...buy a fender body....so many choices.
I would start with an actual US made body, then go aftermarket neck.

https://stratosphereparts.com/new-f...aster-strat-replacement-body-3ts-00792836000/
Have always had excellent results with Warmoth necks. Quality and fit and finish always better than Fender.
 
Here’s where I’m at with the two bodies I mentioned above...both were done with Unicorn Spit gel stain reduced to dye level. Prob gonna sand back the Strat and start over or spot repair, couple splotchies and a grubby ginger print or two....really happy with the black / brown Tele body is turning out.
That looks killer! Did you use pre-stain and if not can you use it with Unicorn Spit?
 
That looks killer! Did you use pre-stain and if not can you use it with Unicorn Spit?
No pre-stain, but I did wet down the bodies first with a spray bottle of isopropyl alcohol so it went on even.... the Unicorn Spit is a trip, bunch of different ways you can use it. Not sure you need to use a pre stain but would say if the pre stain is oil based its a no go since Unicorn Spit is water or alcohol based depending how you use it. You do need to seal it with an oil based product like lacquer or a wipe on poly. I went wipe on poly for ease of use and its working perfect.
 
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